Berry Crumble Bars

As summer quickly approaches here in North Idaho my mind turns to summer recipes and desserts and these berry crumble bars are the perfect summer dessert, if I do say so myself. When I think of a summer dessert I typically think of some sort of pastry baked with an abundance of berries and topped with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream. The base of these berry crumble bars is a buttery, almond shortbread that is topped with a generous amount of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) which is then topped with more of the almond shortbread dough as the crumble topping.

To brighten the berry filling I added lemon zest and lemon juice. I added almond flour to the shortbread base and crumble topping to add a wonderful texture and very subtle almond flavor to these bars. The shortbread dough makes a perfect crumble topping and saves the time of making a separate topping. These bars can be enjoyed as is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients you will need to make these berry crumble bars:

For the cookie base and crumble topping:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the berry filling:

• 3 cups mixed berries (frozen or fresh)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

• 1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper allowing for overhang. This will help you remove the bars from the pan after they have cooled.
• 2.) In a large bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar and salt.
• 3.) Add the vanilla to the melted butter and stir together.

• 4.) Add the butter mixture to the dry mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon. Once the dough comes together you can use your hands to finish mixing. Crumble the dough in your hands to make a crumble.

• 5.) Take 2/3 of the dough and press it into the 9×13 baking dish making sure it is even throughout. Save the rest of the dough for the crumble topping.
• 6.) In another large bowl add the mixed berries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour. Stir together.

• 7.) Pour the berry mixture over the top of the shortbread cookie base. Crumble the reserved cookie dough evenly over the top of the berry filling.
• 8.) Bake 45-50 minutes until the crumble topping just starts to turn golden.
• 9.) Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to start the cooling process. After about 15 minutes, using the overhang of the parchment paper, lift from the pan and place directly on the wire rack to cool completely before cutting into bars. Enjoy!

Notes:

• Even if you use a non-stick pan you will still want to line the pan with parchment paper with an overhang so you can easily remove the bars from the pan once they have cooled.
• You can definitely use whatever berries you would like if you don’t have mixed berries or you prefer once berry to another.
• Using fresh or frozen berries does not change the baking time. Just watch for the crumble topping to start turning a lovely golden brown.
• The flour in the berry filling makes sure the juices from the berries thicken during the baking process so don’t skip this ingredient!
• Make sure to let the bars cool completely before cutting so the berry filling will be set fully.
• Store in an airtight container.

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